Related top topics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In both the original run and since the 2005 revival, long-running Britishscience fiction television programme Doctor Who has featured a number of story arcs. A story arc is an extended story which takes place over a larger number of episodes or serials, characterised by a gradual unfolding of plot points and introduction of narrative devices which come together in the arc's climax and dénouement. While character arcs exist over the course of many stories, they do not necessarily take the shape of an expanded story arc. A number of smaller arcs in the programme have taken the form of trilogies.

References to these arcs have since been made in both Doctor Who and its spin-offs such as Torchwood. Early seasons would feature story arcs which made up extended serials such as The Trial of a Time Lord but also loose umbrella titles such as The Key to Time. The new series has continued this trend with the introduction of "arc words" which are recognisable to the larger viewing audience such as "Bad Wolf", "Torchwood" and "Mr Saxon", which also constitute the story arcs for individual seasons.

The Master

Season 8 of Doctor Who involved the first appearance of the Doctor's arch enemy, the Master, portrayed then by Roger Delgado. Every story in the season involved the Master. At the very beginning, the Doctor is warned by a Time Lord that the Master, a convicted criminal and enemy of the Doctor's, has escaped from Gallifrey and may come to Earth seeking revenge, as proves to be the case. During this first story, the Doctor sabotages the Master's TARDIS and so traps the Master, as he is, on Earth in the 20th century. At the denouement of the subsequent story, however, the Master retrieves a missing component and escapes – only to return subsequently as a prisoner of Axos. He is next encountered in the future on an alien world and finally returns to Earth; in both these last two adventures his intention is to subvert an ancient power source having previously stolen secret files on such things from the Time Lords. At the very end of the season (in The Dæmons), UNIT finally captures the Master and takes him into custody.

The Key to Time

The Key to Time is the umbrella title that links all six serials of Season 16 of Doctor Who. The arc was originally conceived of by producer Graham Williams, who had proposed it as part of his application for the producer's job in 1976.[1] The name refers to the powerful artifact whose segments the Doctor, Romana and K-9 are searching for during the season.

A figure calling himself the White Guardian commissions the Doctor and K9, assisted by a new companion, the Time Lady Romana, to find the six segments of the Key to Time, a cosmic artifact resembling a perfect cube that maintains the equilibrium of the universe. Since it is too powerful for any single being to possess, it has been split into six different segments and scattered across space and time, disguised by the raw elemental power within them into any shape or size. However, since the forces balancing the universe are so upset, the White Guardian needs to recover the segments of the Key to stop the universe so that he can restore the balance. The White Guardian also warns the Doctor of the Black Guardian who also wishes to obtain the Key To Time for his own purposes.

The first segment is disguised as a lump of Jethryk on the planet Ribos. The second is the planet Callufrax, shrunk to miniature size by the space-hopping pirate planet Zanak. The third is the Great Seal of Diplos, which has been stolen by a criminal of that planet. The fourth is part of a statue on the planet Tara. The fifth has been consumed by the squid Kroll, causing it to turn into a gigantic monster. The final segment is a female humanoid — Princess Astra.

In the final episode, the Black Guardian, disguised as the White Guardian, attempts to take the Key from the Doctor. However, the Doctor sees through the figure's charade and orders the segments of The Key to Time to once again become scattered across all of time and space, bar the sixth, which he reinstates as Princess Astra.

The complete running time for all six serials in the arc is 633 minutes.

The Key to Time is available on DVD in North America and was released on region 2 (Europe) DVD on September 24, 2007[2].

Key 2 Time is a series of CD audio plays released by Big Finish Productions. Over the course of three stories, the Fifth Doctor must hunt down the redistributed segments of the Key, which are decaying the dimensions around them. The Doctor soon discovers the decay is a direct result of his actions in the first search for the Key, his attempt to assemble the Key using a makeshift sixth segment disrupting the balance between the segments and causing them to decay. The story ends with the Key being reassembled and the Doctor subsequently destroying the Key in the Chaos Pool where it was first made, undoing the damage it has caused and preventing anything from ever using the Key again. The three stories are The Judgement of Isskar, The Destroyer of Delights and The Chaos Pool.

Entropy

All serials of season 18 are linked together by the central theme of entropy. Within the season, the stories Full Circle, State of Decay and Warriors' Gate are also known as The E-Space Trilogy.[3] The trilogy saw the TARDIS accidentally pass through a Charged Vacuum Emboitment (CVE) from its normal universe, N-Space, into a smaller one called E-Space. The trilogy served to introduce Adric as a companion in the first story Full Circle and marked the departure of companions Romana and K-9 Mark II in the final story Warriors' Gate. The season culminated in Logopolis where we learn that the CVEs were created by the Logopolitans to combat an Entropy field that ends up growing out of control due to interference by the the Master and threatens to destroy the entire universe.

New Beginnings / Return of the Master

Overlapping the entropy arc are these three stories which cover the regeneration into Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor, chronicles the Master as he attempts to procure a new body, and return to his old patterns of trying to conquer the universe and defeat the Doctor. The trilogy was also used to introduce Nyssa of Traken and Tegan Jovanka as the Doctor's new companions. They were released on DVD in 2007 under the title New Beginnings.

The Black Guardian

During these three stories in season twenty, the Black Guardian tries to have the Doctor assassinated for denying him the Key To Time. To this end, he employs the mysterious extraterrestrial English boys' school student Vislor Turlough.

The Trial of a Time Lord

The Trial of a Time Lord is the title of the fourteen-part serial that encompasses the entirety of Season 23. In the serial, the Sixth Doctor stands accused of transgressing the First Law of Time, with adventures from his past, present, and future examined and used as evidence of guilt or innocence.

Bad Wolf

"Bad Wolf" was a message spread throughout time and space by Rose Tyler after infusing herself with the power of the time vortex at the heart of the TARDIS. Describing herself as "see[ing] the whole of time and space", Rose acquired omnipotent reality warping abilities which she also used to obliterate a Dalek fleet. The Doctor then removed the lethal power of the time vortex from her through a kiss, saving her life and becoming the catalyst for his nextregeneration. The full extent to which Rose used the power of the time vortex is unknown; even to Rose herself, who seemingly could not completely recall her actions (as evident from her genuine shock at Captain Jack's "death" in "Journey's End").

“

I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words. I scatter them ... in time, and space. A message to lead myself here.

"The Long Game": One of the several thousand television channels being broadcast from Satellite Five is BAD WOLF TV.

"Father's Day": A poster advertising a rave in 1987 has the words "BAD WOLF" defacing it.

"The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances": The bomb that Captain Jack rides at the end of the story is labelled "SCHLECHTER WOLF", which literally translates as "Bad Wolf" in German (the appropriate translation, however, would be "Böser Wolf"; "schlecht" can refer to either low quality or bad character).

"Boom Town": A nuclear power plant is dubbed the Blaidd Drwg project, which is Welsh for "Bad Wolf". The Doctor also mentions for the first time that the phrase had been following them around.

"Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways": The corporation that runs the Game Station (formerly Satellite Five) is called the Badwolf Corporation. It is from this corporation's logo that Rose "takes the words" to scatter throughout Time and Space, resulting in the other appearances of the phrase. It is also in scattered graffiti around Rose's council estate, including on a poster tacked to the wall behind Rose's head in the café scene and in giant letters on a paved recreation ground. The latter is faded, but still visible, in "New Earth".

Since the initial arc, the phrase Bad Wolf has reappeared in the background of many other scenes. 2007 series episode "Gridlock" features the Japanese word Akurō, Japanese for "evil wolf", labelled on poster in a car. The episode "Love & Monsters" establishes that all contemporary computer files on Rose have been wiped out by the "Bad Wolf" virus. Torchwood episode "Captain Jack Harkness" featured the phrase as graffiti in a Welsh dance hall, and in Torchwood book Another Life by Peter Anghelides, a large part of the plot revolves around the Blaidd Drwg nuclear power station. In a re-creation of classic Second Doctor serial The Invasion , the animators slipped a Bad Wolf on the wall where Zoe scribbled the phone number. Other allusions since "The Parting of the Ways" include the 2006 series episode "Tooth and Claw", in which the Host mentions that Rose has "seen [the wolf] too", and that there is "something of the wolf about [her]".

The phrase reappeared in the 2008 series episode "Turn Left": In the alternate timeline, Rose whispers the words to a dying Donna Noble. With the timeline restored, Donna passes the message on to the Doctor. When the pair rush out of the fortune teller's tent, all of the text on every sign has turned into "Bad Wolf", including the TARDIS' backlit signs and the information sheet on the exterior of its telephone cupboard. This is interpreted by the Doctor to be the end of the universe, as further evidenced by the sound of the TARDIS's cloister bell.

There was an earlier visual reference in the 2008 series: one of the drawings by the little girl (in episode "Forest of the Dead") featured a blonde girl and a wolf.

The phrase was similarly used as a precursor explanation of possible inconsistencies, such as in "Love & Monsters",[4] effectively attributing them to the actions of Rose as the Bad Wolf during "The Parting of the Ways". As the phrase is a reminder of the connection between the Doctor and Rose, it appears explicitly in their final farewell; in "Doomsday", the Doctor projects an image to say goodbye to Rose on a (fictional) beach in the Norway of the parallel Earth called "Dårlig Ulv Stranden", which she translates from Norwegian as "Bad Wolf Bay". (The correct translation is "Poorly [Unwell] Wolf Beach", or an implication that it is not a very good (in the sense of competent, mentally sound) wolf. As noticed by the Doctor, the pronunciation of "Dårlig" with an English accent sounds suspiciously close to "Dalek".

Also on the Doctor Who website, the Captain Jack monster file for Judoon, there is an advert for good wolf insurance.

Other media

The tie-in websites set up by the BBC to accompany the series also featured appearances of the phrase. The "Who is Doctor Who?" site featured a clip from "World War Three" with an American newsreader. This clip differed from the one shown in the broadcast version in only one respect: the newsreader was identified as "Mal Loup", French for "bad wolf". At one point, the Doctor is described as being off "making another decision for us, all 'I'm the big bad wolf and it's way past your bedtime'".

The UNIT website also used "badwolf" as a password to enter the "secure" areas of the website. The Geocomtex website's support page has BADWOLF transcribed in Morse Code, and its products page make mention of Lupus and Nocens variants for their "node stabilisers" (lupus nocens is Latin for "wolf who harms"). They also offered "Argentum Ordnance", argentum being Latin for "silver" — silver bullets being traditionally used for killing werewolves.

In the background image of the BBC Doctor Who website's TARDISODE page, the words "BAD WOLF" can be seen scrawled behind Mickey Smith.[5] The graffiti can also be seen in the background of Rose Tyler's character page.[6]

In one of the areas in the Ghostwatch game, "BAD WOLF" is written as graffiti on a wall.

In The Deviant Strain, also by Richards, a psychic character tells Rose that he fears "The bad wolf... The man with the wolf on his arm." Later, this character is indirectly killed by another character who has a tattoo of a wolf on his arm.

There were two "Bad Wolf" references in the Doctor Who Magazine Ninth Doctor comic strips. In Part Two of The Love Invasion (DWM #356, May 2005), there is a poster on the wall of a pub reading "Bad Wolf". In Part One of A Groatsworth of Wit (DWM #363, December 2005), a tavern sign in Elizabethan London features a picture of a wolf's head and the initials "B.W."

The cover of issue 397 of DWM, which was released shortly after the broadcast of "Turn Left", replaces the title logo and strap lines with "Bad Wolf".

A motorcycle gang in the Torchwood Magazinecomic Jetsam is named Blaid Drwg [sic] and a poster in the background of Rift War! Part Four: Dino Crisis says Bad Wolf.

The phrase also appears in UV paint as graffiti on the rear of the set for the Doctor Who Prom, behind the TARDIS and the bust of Henry Wood.[7]

Torchwood

The 2006 series featured "Torchwood" as its arc word, an anagram of "Doctor Who" that was used as the codename for the new series of Doctor Who while filming its first few episodes and on the 'rushes' tapes to ensure they were not intercepted.[8]

The word had first appeared in Doctor Who in the 2005 series episode "'Bad Wolf", as an answer during The Weakest Linkgame show scenes (the Great Cobalt Pyramid was built on the ruins of the famous Old Earth Torchwood Institute). The word's seeding throughout the 2006 series allowed the BBC to introduce its viewing audience to a concept which would eventually form the basis of a spin-off series, Torchwood, set in modern-day Cardiff and involving a mysterious organisation which investigates alien activities and crime. The series features John Barrowman as former companion Jack Harkness and premiered in October 2006.

Torchwood arc

The actual "Torchwood" arc of Doctor Who spanned from "The Christmas Invasion" to "Doomsday", although the phrase had appeared before in "Bad Wolf".[9] After the Torchwood Institute had been established as an element of the Doctor Who universe, it has naturally reappeared in Doctor Who since and has been an integral feature of spin-off Torchwood.

In "Bad Wolf", Anne-droid said that the Great Cobalt Pyramid was built on its remains.

In "The Christmas Invasion", Prime MinisterHarriet Jones asks Major Blake of UNIT to contact Torchwood for aid in defending Earth from the Sycorax. Jones claims she is not supposed to know about them and that not even the United Nations is aware of their existence, though they have ties to the British military. Jones takes responsibility for authorising Torchwood and eventually gives the final command for them to fire on and destroy the Sycorax ship; they have access to an enormously powerful energy weapon adapted from alien technology found ten years ago in a spaceship crash. The nature and normal authority of Torchwood are left vague.

"Tooth and Claw" takes place in a Scottish house named "Torchwood House", and at the end of the episode Queen Victoria announces the foundation of an institution known as the Torchwood Institute to research and fight threats to Britain "beyond imagination" as well as to watch for the return of the Doctor.

In the episode "School Reunion", when Mickey is telling Rose on the telephone how he keeps being blocked while doing research on military websites, the viewer sees the words "TORCHWOOD ACCESS DENIED" flashing across his computer screen. The episode's TARDISODE details Mickey hacking into these websites, and him being blocked by Torchwood.

In "Rise of the Cybermen", a news broadcast on Rose's mobile phone refers to a survey carried out by the Torchwood Institute, and Pete Tyler asks his friend Stevie about his work at Torchwood (implying that in this parallel and RepublicanBritain, Torchwood is not as much of a secret as it is in ours).

In "The Idiot's Lantern", the possibility of Torchwood getting involved is mentioned by police officers while discussing the people affected by The Wire. In a deleted scene, available on the Season Two DVD, Detective Inspector Bishop is shown having a phone conversation about Torchwood.

In "The Satan Pit", it becomes clear that the crew are "representing" 'The Torchwood Archive'.

In "Love & Monsters", Victor Kennedy has access to and mentions the Torchwood files. However, evidence of Rose has been corrupted by a "Bad Wolf virus".

In "Fear Her", part of the plot centres on the Olympic Torch. Commentator Huw Edwards can just be heard mentioning Torchwood after the Olympic crowd disappears just before Chloe tears down her posters.

The episodes "Army of Ghosts" and "Doomsday" include Torchwood as an integral part of the plot. The TARDISODE for "Army of Ghosts" features a journalist investigating Torchwood. These episodes conclude the arc and set up plot points for the spin-off series, Torchwood.

Online appearances include the Doctor Who homepage for the week preceding, one of the contestants (Strood) is said to be from "Torchwood",[10] and on the fictitious Torchwood House website set up by the BBC where it states the name "Torchwood" was derived from the wood from which the staircase was made.[11] In a concurrent 2006 adventure, the organisation was mentioned by a senior officer in the U.S. Navy in the Tenth Doctor story, New Series Adventures novel The Feast of the Drowned.

Mr Saxon

The political poster used by Saxon during his Prime Ministerial campaign.

In "Utopia", when the resurrected Master attempted to steal the TARDIS, the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to lock the TARDIS to no more than 18 months prior to its last location, which was February 2008. Arriving in Britain during the power vacuum left by Harriet Jones' departure, the Master created a complete alias for himself as "Mr Harold Saxon", and quickly rose to prominence as Secretary of State for Defence; he redesigned the cabinet rooms destroyed during "World War Three", as well as created a new "Archangel network" of satellites, and the ValiantUNIT aircraft carrier.

Using the Archangel network, Saxon sent subliminal messages encoded in the sound of drums to enable the British people to trust him and ultimately vote for him. The satellite signals also drowned out the Doctor's telepathic ability to sense the presence of another Time Lord on Earth.

The Master began setting traps for the Doctor through his companion Martha and her family. He funded Professor Lazarus's genetic rejuvenation experiments in "The Lazarus Experiment", and ensured that Lazarus hired Martha's sister Tish to lure the Doctor. Using the events at LazLabs as a catalyst, he ensured Martha's mother Francine's distrust of the Doctor, and manipulated her to trace Martha's phone calls on her superphone. By the time the Doctor, Martha and Jack finally return to Earth in 2008, the Master had established his identity as Mr Saxon, acquiring a wife and companion in Lucy Saxon. He ruled Earth for a year, but was eventually defeated when the world's remaining population - united by Martha's tales of their exploits - psychically connected to the Doctor, enhancing his psychic abilities to the extent that the Doctor could de-age himself and overpower the Master.

Saxon arc

In "Smith and Jones", during a news report about the events in the episode, an interviewee says "All this just goes to prove Mr Saxon right." Later, as Martha Jones meets the Doctor in an alley, a poster displaying the slogan "Vote Saxon" is prominently displayed behind her.

In "Gridlock", the Face of Boe tells the Doctor "You are not alone". The message's meaning would be later revealed in "Utopia" to be a foreshadow of the Master's return. The Master takes the alias "Professor Yana", "Yana" being an acronym for "You Are Not Alone".

"The Lazarus Experiment" reveals Mr Saxon's full name. Martha's sister, Tish Jones works as Lazarus' assistant, who in turn is working upon the technology at the behest of Saxon. Lazarus' technology reappears in "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords" as a function of the laser screwdriver. Also present is a shady Man in Black, who warns Martha's mother of the Doctor and tells her something terrifying about him, resulting in her making a phone call to Martha warning her and saying that "this information comes from Harold Saxon himself!". This episode is the first to hint at Mr. Saxon's identity as a Time Lord as the logos seen on banners outside Lazarus's laboratory and on the walls inside on occasion is almost identical to the Gallifreyan code frequently seen as read-outs on the TARDIS monitor.

In "42", agents of Mr Saxon trace Francine's call to Martha's superphone. One of Saxon's agents had appeared in the previous episode to warn Martha's mother about the Doctor's reputation for danger. Archangel is also seen on Martha's mobile display, while the mysterious Man In Black from the previous episode, "The Lazarus Experiment" is replaced with Miss Dexter, a Woman In Black who works for Mr Saxon. She is played by Elize Du Toit, and appears up to The Sound of Drums. Her fate after this episode is unknown.

The episodes "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" contributed towards the arc by introducing the concept of the Chameleon arch, which provides a plausible explanation for the Master's return in "Utopia". Also at the beginning of the episode the hymn "He Who Would Valiant Be" can be heard being sung, the second line of which contains the words "follow the master". Also, when Tim Latimer opens the fob watch the Doctors voice is heard saying, among other things, "you are not alone".

In "Utopia", Professor Yana opens his own Chameleon Arch fob watch, returning the Master's Time Lord consciousness to his body. The Master later regenerates into the form of Mr Saxon, and Martha recognises his voice. The conclusion of the arc continues in "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords", where the human population empower the Doctor to defeat the Master through focused psychic connection.

Four takes a somewhat different approach to the previous series. Russell T Davies says: "You've got to watch and listen closely. It's been seeded for a long time, with small but vital references going all the way back to series one. And remember the Master, in "Last of the Time Lords", mentioning the Medusa Cascade? Oh, that's going to come back to haunt us..." (Doctor Who Magazine Issue 394)

The series finale which was a two part story with "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End" saw the climax of many references and events not just made over the course of the series but of the entire series from the 2005 revival. This was done so that head writer Russell T Davies could leave a blank slate for his successor. The episodes saw the significance of the Medusa Cascade and the disappearance of the bees on Earth revealed. Also several prophesies were fulfilled (as stated below). The numerous references to disappeared planets such as Adipose 3 and the Lost Moon of Poosh all come into play. The importance of the Doctor having kept the hand he lost in a fight on Christmas Day is seen along with having Martha Jones' phone on-board the TARDIS. As the Doctor's soul is 'revealed' by Davros there are clips shown of the people who have sacrificed themselves for him throughout the revived series. Also as many old characters return their significance is seen such as that of Torchwood and Harriet Jones. The Christmas special on the Titanic is also seen as important due to Mr. Copper creating the foundations of the sub-wave network used in "The Stolen Earth".

Similarly, the Shadow Proclamation, an intergalactic code which has been continually referenced over the past four series (going back as far as the first episode "Rose"), was addressed in "The Stolen Earth".

In addition to the bees, various planets and moons are referenced as "lost": one of the moons of Poosh in "Midnight", Pyrovilia in "The Fires of Pompeii", and the Adiposian breeding planet, Adipose 3, in "Partners in Crime".

Also several prophesies were fulfilled such as 'Doctor Donna' made by the Ood and the prophecies made by seers in "The Fires of Pompeii".

In "Turn Left", the stars begin disappearing roughly three weeks after the events of "The Poison Sky"; though it is set in a parallel reality, the event is said to be occurring in every reality. Russell T Davies reiterates these themes in the Doctor Who Confidential episode accompanying "Turn Left".

Bad Wolf has also been used by Rose Tyler to warn the Doctor that the world is ending in "Turn Left", after which all the signs around them read BAD WOLF. The apparent coincidences involving his meetings with Donna Noble are later recognised by The Doctor as no coincidence, but a result of Dalek Caan's manipulation of events to help the Doctor and his companions to overcome the Daleks.

In The Waters of Mars, The Prophecy is mentioned and Ood Sigma appear to the Doctor who believes it is a sign of his upcoming death.

Other arcs

Other story and character arcs comprise a number of other episodes across the programme's history:

The Earth Exile term comprises all of Seasons Seven and Eight and part of Season Nine. The Doctor is stripped of the ability to use his TARDIS at the end of The War Games and exiled to Earth in the late 20th century. Throughout this arc, the Doctor is constantly attempting to get the TARDIS working again, with the Time Lords occasionally sending the TARDIS to certain locations where certain problems are taking place that they wish to assist in without appearing to get explicitly involved themselves. The Time Lords finally lift the sentence at the conclusion of The Three Doctors.

The Dalek Civil War trilogy comprises three stories from three different Doctors. The civil war among the Daleks is established in the story Resurrection of the Daleks, where Davros conditions a pair of Daleks and a number of Human duplicates into being loyal to him and hostile to the Dalek Supreme. Revelation of the Daleks sees Davros building a whole new race of Daleks, only for a group of Daleks loyal to the Supreme to arrive and foil his plan. And finally, Remembrance of the Daleks sees the war come to an end in London, 1963, where Davros' Imperial Daleks destroy all the Renegade faction bar the Dalek Supreme in a battle for a Time Lord artifact called the Hand of Omega. Davros uses it, but it destroys his ship along with all the Imperial Daleks, and Skaro. The Doctor then uses logic to destroy the Supreme Dalek.

The Cartmel Masterplan was a loose story-arc started in 1986 for the Seventh Doctor's era by script editor Andrew Cartmel. The 'masterplan' was to add subtle hints to the dialogue that there was some dark secret behind the Doctor. This was to add some mystery to the Doctor, since Andrew reckoned that all the mystery of the Doctor had been lost due to the information given on Gallifrey and Time Lords. The arc was to be concluded in a story called Lungbarrow by Marc Platt, but it was originally rejected and replaced in 1989, and the cancellation of Doctor Who after 1989 meant the arc was never resolved. However, the novel Lungbarrow and other novels from the New Adventures novels by Virgin Publishing were made to show how the arc would have been concluded.

Face of Boe trilogy: Three stories centering around the end of the Earth, the planet called New Earth, and the enigmatic Face of Boe in a distant future. It spread across the episodes "The End of the World" (2005), "New Earth" (2006) and "Gridlock" (2007) which concluded with the Face's message to the Doctor that he is not alone. The Face of Boe is also briefly mentioned in the episode "The Long Game" as part of the news reports being reviewed by The Editor. The name is referred to by Jack Harkness at the end of "Last of the Time Lords" hinting that he may well become the Face Of Boe in the future.